Moisture-extracting apparatus.



UN vSTi-YEES PATENT @Flillllril JOHN S. THURMAN AND LYNNEAUS I. LOCKWGOD, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOUR.

IVIOISTURE-EXTBACTING APPARATUS.

Specicaton of Letters Patent. Patented 25, iiili 3,

Application filed March 9, 1912. Serial No. 682,802.

T o all ctc/wm t may concern Be it known that we, JOI-1N S. THURMAN and LYNNEAUS I. Lociiwoon, citizens of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State 0f Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in llloisture-Extracting Apparatus, of vwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

' Our invention has relation to improvements in moisture-extracting apparatus, and it consists in the novel details of construction more fully set forth in the speciiicat-ion and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a combined elevation and vertical section of the apparatus, parts being' broken away; and `Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail of the controlling Valye past which the filtered air is 'admitted to the container or receptacle.

The objecty of the presentI invention is to construct an apparatus which is primarily intended to serve as an adjunct in laundries wherein a certain quantity of moisture must be extracted from the clot-hes after the same are washed preparatory to the ironing operation.

t is of course, well understood that a certain per cent. of moisture must be allowed to remain in the clothes to permit. the same to be ironed, the absolute dryingthereof not being here intended. The present apparatus while eminently serviceable in the connection here stated, is obviously not liniited in its application to the treatment of clothes, but is susceptible of general application in the arts and industries where the abstraction of moisture is a desideratum.

Among the objects here sought is to provide an apparatus which possesses a maximum capacity, that is to say one which is so constructed as to permit. a maximum quantity of material to be treated in a minimum amount of time; one which maybe successfully operated without resort to skilled labor; one which may be builtat. little cost and operated with little expense; one which will turn out a uniform product; one which the articles treated are subjected to practically no deterioration', and one possessing` further and other adif'antages better apparent from a detailed des' ription of the invention w ich is as follows.--A

Referring to the drawings, l) represents a rotary Vacuum-pump havingl an intake l and exhaust pipe 9., the pump being operated by. a belt B passing over the pulley 3 of the pump-shaft, the belt being' driven from any suitable source of power (not Shown). Any equivalent exhauster however will answer the purpose of the pump here lcom'ent-ionally illustrated. The pipe Q may discharge into any suitable drain or sewer pipe (not shown). Secured to the intake pipe or nozzle l is a rubber or equivalent coupling c* which receives the end of the discharge nozzle t leading from the bottom of a collecting basin. or hopper 5 identified with the bot-tom section G of a receptacle or container 6', the basin 5 being provided with a perforated top or partition 7 forming the perforated bottom of the section 6 of the container. For convenience the see tions 6, G, may be jointly considered as constituting the receptacle, tank or container, it being obvious that said container may be constructed in a variety of ways. The container is mounted on rollers or casters 8,

and may be pulled over the floor by a handle or lever 9, the forked base 'of which pivoted to the sides of Ythe section The container is closed by a lid 10, a suitable rubber gasket l1 on the receptacle making a tight joint when the lid is lowered into place. From the center of the lid projects a sectional liolloiv standard 12 of any suitable design` in which is mounted a spring-controlled pressure or regulating valve 13 mounted in any way known to the art, the upper end of the standard having secured thereto a coupling 1-1 from which leads a tube l5. 'The tube serves to support the disks or heads 1G. 1G', between which is stretched a lter sack or screen l?, the dimensionsl of the disks being such as to gire 'the sack in inverted conical Contour. The disks are secured by lock-nutsy n, a' in any inan-` ner well understood in the ari. The upper projecting terminal oi' the pipe is provided with a ring 1S to which is attached the end of a rope or hoisting cable 1, passing over sheaves or pulleys l). J9. secured overhead and provided with a counter-'weight lV, the opposite end ofthe cable being within easy reach of the operator. f' Between the disks 1G, l0', and inside the lilter screen 1T, the pipe 'i5 provided with a slot .w or equivalent openings or perforations for the pastant; or container tl, t3", se

sage therethrough of the littered air. lilithn in the container7 the clothes of different tainiiies or customers are separated by removable perforated copper disks 20, so that W operation of the apparatus, which operation may be summarized follows The Wet clothes a, a', a, and so forth belonging to different patrons are deposited in the receptacle 5, t, care being taken to separate lg, thediterent portions by the diaphragme 20,

after which the lid 10 isloivered into position on top ott the receptacle. lt may be stated in passing that the receptacle has tiret been Wheeled n front of the pump P and the nozzle e nserted into the coupling c.

The pump or exhaustcr being now started, the air will ',iiaturally be exhausted (partially) from the receptacle, this action insuring positively air-tight joint for the lid since the atmospheric air will bear down on the same in proportion to the vacuum "'lfoi'med in the receptacle. lVhen the vacuim in the receptacle has reached a certain degree, atmospheric air previously thorso oughly filtered by the screen 1.7 will ilow through the slot of the tube 15 and through the hollow standard l2, past the valve 13 (the tension of whose spring 13 is overcome and the valve accordingly being unseated) 3,5 into the container t3 to displace the vacuum. The action of the pump will again dra iv this air from the container until sittli- 'cient raretaction results therein to again unt flieat the valve. rthus the pressure or regie an lating valve will be alternately or periodi-- cally seated and unseated, and the pump will continue operating between these tivo periods. @turing the period that the valve is closed the pump will produce a rarefactioii in the receptacle or container, the air within not only becoming rareiied but at the same time expanding as it seeks an outlet through the discharge nozzle el. During the interval that the valve is unseated, the inrush of til- .50 tered atmospheric air past the valve into the container serves to drive the moisture before, it, t'orciiig it out otl the. ivet .material into the collecting basin oi' tunnel 5 although such expulsion is not altogether identitied with the lli-csh currents which enter past the valve.

More or less moisture is driven or!l by the expanding air within the container (after the valve is seated) in resjionse to the pump action. since while the pump acts the gcnoo eral trend of 'all` currents is toward the pump. The pump (or equivalent eXl auster) therefore not 'only draws the air from the container, but the moisture as well. ihn-ing the period ot atmospheric expansion in the :te moisture Y gt lil meinte be eliminated as a result of evaporation, as it is a Well known physical lan' that low atmospheric pressure is conducive to ready evaporation. The apparatus therefore resolves itself into tivo distinct modes oi operation :--ti'rsh an expulsion ot the moisture by atmospheric rarel'action, and expansion, and second, an expulsion resulting trom a mechanical dislodgment of the moisture by fresh accessions ot atmospheric air into the container,v the inrushing' air currents driving the moisture beitorc them. The air circulating through the container or tank should of course be perfectly clean, so that the filter or screen i7 becomes indispensable. When one lot of material has been treated, the pump is stopped, the nozzle #t is detached from the coupling c, the lid 10 (now released from atmospheric pressure) is lifted, the tank wheeled out ot' the way and its contents removed. Another tank filled with clothes or other material) is now Wheeled in front ofv the pump, the connections are made as before, and the operation repeated. By this method a large quantity of material may be quickly treated. The hollow standard l2 obviously constitutes the intake or the lil tered air entering the container, the nozzle 5 constituting the outlet Jfor both air and moisture. The spring 13. may of course be set at. any tension required or adjusted as Well understood in the art.

Having described our invention what we claim isrl. it moisture extractor comprising a container, having a closed top, a hollow standard leading t'rom the said top, an air litter carried by the standard, the Walls ot the standard being Vperforated to allow for the Ytree travel of the filtered air into the container, a `valve interposed in the path of travel of the filtered air, between the filter and container, and responding to the vacuum created in the container, a perforated bottom `tor the container, a collecting chambei' below said bottom, and an exhauster coupled to the collecting chamber.

2. ,t moisture extractor comprising a container, a top removable lid therefor, a hollow standard or tube leading from the lid, an air tilter carried by the standard, the walls of the standard being perforated to allow tor the tree travel of the filtered air into the container, a cont-rol valve mounted in 'the standard and responding to the vacuum created in the container, a perforated bottom For the container, a collecting chamber below said bottom provided with a discharge means, and an exhauster coupled to said discharge means.

fl. ln a moisture extractor, a suitable container provided with an intake, an exhaustcr tor tbc container, and means responsive to the rareia tion produced by the cthaiister 'tot eticcn'ig periodic intluxes ot' :itin-os pheiio nir into the container whereby 4the iiiois'ture 'herein is meehmiicfiiy disioged and driven of.

L In nioisui'o ex'inoiox', n suitable com feiner jpiovided Wih an air intake, an eX- hziiister for the container, and means responsive to the ruiefaotion produced by the exiziiister for eeotiiig periodic iniixes of :itmosgaheric si? iiiio the Container, ami subsequent rnienctions sind expansions within iii@ coiiiziiiiei' for the purpose sei for'n,

5. En :i moisture extractor, :1 suitable con- 'uinei provided with an :xii` intake, :in exii'siusiez" for die container, mi mitin :iii' iiiei i operating in conjimciion with the infcake, and means in die path of the fiered ai? and. responsive to the rarefaction produced by the exhaiisei for effecting periodic in'fiuxes oi said aii into the container andsubseqiienb ini'efnotions and expansions within the container, for he` purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof We affix our signw lues, in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN S. THURMN. LYNNEUS I. LOCKVVGOD.

Vvitnesses:

EMIL STAREK, FANNIE E. WEBER. 

